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Help: Weight Loss and body fat increasing !!

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Hello!

 

I am French so sorry for my poor English level: i come here because i have a story and a little problem/question…

I hope this community will be more helpful than the French one 😉

 

First of all, a bit of “Storytelling”:

 

I have a FitBit One for more than 1 year. The main purpose was first only to discover my number of steps months after months (I like walks and statistics) and I had no “Weight Loss” goal…

 

Then, 5-6 months ago, quite stressfull moments got me to get bigger and bigger, then, few weeks ago I had a revelation: THIS MUST STOP!

 

So I began to really take care of my alimentation and I began to use the all Fitbit interface… And when I say all, it’s really all: daily weight, every aliments and calories eaten and weighted, every physical activity… And I also used the electronic coach included (the goal was to loose 5kg in 6 months: I wanted to discover my motivation before begin to be more ambitious).

 

And… it’s really working for the moment!! And faster than expected (I almost reached my goal 1 months and half after the beginning). But suddenly my old fashion scale broke up, and I decide to break my piggy-bank and invest in a FitBit Aria smart Scale (for me, the automatic filling of my every day weight to the dashboard by wifi was really a good way to keep de dynamic up !). This is how I discovered the % BODY FAT calculation.

 

And so, my problem: the more I lose weight, the more I gain body fat!!

 

And I don’t understand it (you can see the graphics below… In french, sorry!): I understand this figures that my efforts on my alimentation (I only took attention to the quantities first, I will check de kind of food eaten later) and on my physical activities (walk, swimming, bike… As never in my life) lead me to the good way on the weight, but in the very bad move on the body fat %!!

 

original.jpg

 

 

 

(In green, the body fat increasing. The blue sign is to point the date when I had the Aria scale.)

 

Does anyone understand and can explain me these figures? With all this sport, i can’t lose muscles right?

 

When I will have definitely reached my current goal, my real goal is to lose 5 more kilos till the end of the year… I would like to be sure that I go on the right way and that I don’t do any kind of wrong things…

 

Thanks for your help Smiley Happy

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Do You Meuh ?
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106 REPLIES 106

Thanks @Mukluk4. I agree with you, we are all so very different; and what might work brilliantly for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for me.  In fact I did increase calories and carb %, partly due to circumstances beyond my control; and the results were a disappointing increase in weight. 🙁 I’m here to learn what has worked for others (or not), and can try out new things along the way. For example, adding more weights to my workout routine, while I haven’t seen much variation on the scale, has boosted my energy and confidence level! 

In short, I’m keeping open to all tips and tricks, and enjoying hearing about everyone else’s experiences. From a Texan heart, thanks y’all! 

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I appreciate your remarks, I do understand how difficult it is to lose
weight, not from my own experience but from many others. I encourage you
to stay on your right path, don't get discouraged. I can still remember
Oprah coming out on stage with a wheel barrel loaded with a lot of yellow
stuff meant to represent all the fat she had lost due to the Optifast diet
she was on plus she had a celebrated Physical Trainer, Bob Green, helping
her. In the end she put most of the weight back on because she told her
audience how miserable she felt everyday. Until the body establishes a new
set point, it seems to be crying out because all of it's fat cells are not
filled. Remember, you can quit smoking and drinking but not eating. Keep
going, it's a long road, but to get to the end, you must stick with a plan
that works for you. Good luck!
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Thanks @Corney. I'd forgotten about Oprah (don't watch her show...).  I have some 'cheating' moments, but for the most part am encouraged enough to get back to the 'plan'. This community helps  A LOT! Not sure if it's related to 'Misery loves company' or 'Birds of a feather flock together', or some such notion. But sharing the journey makes the load seem lighter.

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@Mukluk4 wrote:

@Heybales wrote:






Would it actually be encouraging to wish someone success on a journey if you knew the route they were taking was full of huge tire puncturing thorns and dangerous area with no help and poisonous snakes - but right over there was another route much safe and would get them to their destination much safer and easier - successful in the end?

  


Sometimes it's just better to let strangers do what they want to do instead of being all self-righteous.  What works for you may or may not work for someone else.  Since you've probably never taken that "other" journey, you have no idea what's there.  Just because Rattlesnakes live in rocky formations, doesn't mean I'm going to get bit by or even see one as I tour the Grand Canyon

 

If that's the journey they want to take, they are comfortable with that decision, and they are successful, who the hell are you to preach something different to someone you've never met or invested any real time in?


Should probably read the comments in order so you know what in the world is actually being talked about.

 

I'd attempt to explain but have an inkling it would be misconstrued and point missed.

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I had the same thing happen but I didn’t drastically change anything or start some new way of eating. My BF has tracked at 16-18% range for a long time and today it was 25.8%. 

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@Dbeebe51: I was an exercise consultant for a surgical bariatric program.
We checked our clients regularly to make sure they were following the
exercise protocols. Those that didn't exercise everyday in order to
preserve muscle mass lost weight but their % body fat increased. Body fat
analyzers measures the electrical resistance in your body. Everything in
your body except fat contains water which is a good conductor of
electricity, thus the analyzer shows very little resistance to the
current. The increase in percent body fat could mean several things. It
could be an error in the analyzer, your are dehydrated, you are burning
muscles mass to make up for a calorie deficit, or when you measured
yourself there was a lot of body oils on your feet. I always use mine
right after I shower so there are no body oils on my feet to insure an
accurate reading. At the clinic I always used water to moisten the
analyzer before the client stepped on it. Hope this helps.
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Confusing to say the least but somehow got it! Ty

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You're the real rockstar, Weight Loss/ Fat Loss takes patience.  Fluctuation happen frequently in the short term.

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@Heybales wrote:

@Pjoewrote:

  I recently came across an article, which made alot of sense to me, addressing 'fat skinny and healthy skinny'.  When exercising regularly, aerobicly, you can lose muscle mass, since fat is more difficult to metablize, your body will consume muscle for energy.  Take a look at long distance runners.  They are all thin.  With such an exercise program you will lose muscle but will retain fat.  Your weight may or may not go down but body fat may remain the same.  Therefore you are thinner but with the same % body fat (fat skinny).  In addition to aerobics, weight bearing exercises will increase muscle mass and you will lose body fat,  total weight may remain the same.  But you will look better, sexier, feel better. You will be strong. Your clothes will even fit better, (healthy skinny).


Wow, where was that article at - gotta remember to never recommend that site or wherever it came from.

 

What a bunch of bull.

 

If fat is more difficult to metabolize - why do we burn almost total fat at rest, except for our brain?

And when you start moving more, getting more intense, you keep burning more and more fat as energy source?

 

And if fat is difficult, are you aware of the gluconeogenesis process that must happen to protein for it even to be available as an energy source? Basically converted to carbs. Now that is difficult and time consuming process.

Hence the reason marathoner's that go out too quick hit the wall, they lost muscle carb stores, only fat is being burned, and that requires a MUCH slower effort, along with converted protein.

 

Pro distance runners are thin because it doesn't take much muscle to do endurance, and they don't want extra weight in upper body hindering their performance, so they do not work it out. Shoot, they don't even want extra weight in legs that isn't needed. Long distance don't need sprinter's legs.

Now look at triathletes who also run marathons - they have some meat upstairs, because they do indeed use it. Still thin, but more than just runners.

 

The only truthfulness it sounds like in that article was the fact you do indeed lose muscle mass in normal diet if you don't use the muscle as much.

 

Of course, if just starting to workout out - why exactly would you have had the muscle anyway. You didn't end up with flappy arms because you burned muscle off - you never had muscle there in the first place because you never used your triceps for much.

 

You don't really burn off muscle anyway, not as energy source, unless you setup a really bad scenario of intense cardio burning lots of carbs and eating little carbs, reaching that "hitting the wall".

 

Because muscle is torn down daily anyway. But in a diet you don't have the required protein to build it back up to the state it was at, unless you are using it enough. Body would rather use those amino acids for more required basic functions.

 

But none of that changes the fact you burn mostly fat all day, because as long as you got the oxygen, it'll metabolize.



Correction:

 

The reason runners have thin bodies and weight lifters have stocky bodies is due to weight and reps.

 

A runner is doing a bunch of reps, each step being a rep, and only body weight. A weight lifter is doing short reps and heavy weight.

 

Where do you get the idea that runners have more fat than body builders?  I have known competitors in the Iron Man with 9% body fat.  Cardio burns fat.   That’s been known since the beginning of time.  

 

The less reps and more weight will bring on the bulk.  

 

Of course there is diet as well, but that’s for another day.

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So I have lost 34 pounds since June. My body fat this week went up for 26 to 28.? Very confused 

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@Peteyd wrote:

So I have lost 34 pounds since June. My body fat this week went up for 26 to 28.? Very confused 


Congrats.

 

There is no BF% measurement method accept death and autopsy that is better than 2%, so you are easily within the range of the inaccuracy of any method.

 

I'm betting this is a BIA scale, which means even if you somehow managed to present the exact same hydrated body to the scale, it could be 5% off.

And it's doubtful anyone could do that.

 

Just as weight is best viewed as a trend over time because of water weight fluctuations, even more so with bodyfat readings.

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Great Results!  I started jogging, and noticed the same.  I'm 2 weeks in, 6.5 lbs down, but my fat % also is increasing. I'm basically changing from a completely sedimentary lifestyle / work style to combination run/walk 2 hours a night give or take a bit. I was hoping it would start seeing a % decrease at some point - these results show me that it'll work itself out in the long run.  my first weigh in on fitbit aria 2 was 217.1 lbs, which is pretty close to where you started.  I'm now down to 210.6.  I think I'm actually a bit lower than that, but had some extra hydration last night which might have skewed the result this morning a bit - either way, I'm thrilled with the loss thus far.  Congrats on your results

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I am a 63 year old female, 4ft 11inc tall and weigh 105 Ib. Which is not overweight for my height, so why is my body fat showing as 30.5%. I also belong to my local gym and participate  in 3 to 4  group activities every week which are Aerobics, Total Fitness and Core strengthening classes. I also use the running machine  with interspersed walking and running every 2 minutes intervals for a duration of 30 minutes. I do this every week unless I’m away on my walking holidays 2 to 3 times a year. 

Can you please explain why my body fat is so high? 

f

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@Aoril1 wrote:

Can you please explain why my body fat is so high?


The explanation is that it’s the estimate (by the scale) of your BF% that’s high, and in your case, likely inaccurate. Since you can’t get a reliable/credible estimate from the scale, you may want to use the mirror instead, together with sample pictures of women at different BF%, such as those found in this link.

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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What is your experience with resistance training?
You are not "overweight" as you put it, but your lean mass to body fat
ratio may not be what you expect it to be.
Also, what method are you using to measure body fat, a lot of different
methods are unreliable and inaccurate.
A good thing to focus on is body composition take pictures and make note of
the changes that you see in your body, it may also be advantageous to use
the same method of tracking your body fat and monitor that number for
progression vs accuracy.
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I use the Aria Fitbit scale, it’s reporting my BMI at 21.1 which is very good.

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@Aoril1 - I have a fitbit Aria 1 scale but it doesn't give me the BMI, only weight and BF. 

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I think you are right, I use the aria fitbit scale to weigh myself and it’s reporting  my BMI as 21.1 which proves I’m not overweight 

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Mine is an Aria 2

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I do resistance training within my total toning and core training classes. 

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